2002 Disability Bill (Ireland) - Some links...

Last updated: 30 October 2002

The Irish Disability Bill, 2001 was published in December 2001; following negative reaction from disability groups it was withdrawn in February 2002. An extensive consultation process was then initiated, and was on-going at the time of writing.

This page provides a collection of links to the original Bill, and the consequent events and media coverage. Note that, in some cases (specifically, articles in the Irish Times), the resources linked below may require subscription before access is allowed. In other cases, the resources may have been removed since originally published.

• Disability Bill, 2001. Initiated as: Number  68 of 2001. Sponsored by Minister for Health and Children:
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• Some relevant Government Departments:
  • Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.
  • Department of Health and Children
• Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) - with which the current Irish draft bill has been unfavourably compared...
• "Disability Bill". Irish Times Leader Column, Saturday, December 22, 2001.
• "Calls to withdraw the Disability Bill rejected" By Joe Humphreys. Irish Times, Monday 11th February 2002:
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• Statement on the Draft Disability Bill by AHEAD (Association for Higher Education Access and Disability). 18th February 2002.
• "Disability groups press Government on funding" - Various RTE news coverage of 18th February 2002, including the launch of the "Unseen, Unheard and Unfair" campaign.
• "Body set up by minister wants major changes to Disability Bill." By Mark Hennessy, Political Reporter. Irish Times, Tuesday 19th February 2002:
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• "The brazen neck of official 'niceness'." Opinion Column by Fintan O'Toole. Irish Times, Tuesday 19th February 2002:
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• "U-turn on Disability Bill an exercise in cosmetics": Press Release from Jan O'Sullivan TD, Cllr Labour Party Spokesperson on Equality & Law Reform Issued on Tuesday 19 February, 2002.
• Poster announcing "Disability Mass Meeting", Mansion House, Dublin Tuesday February 19th, 7.30 pm:
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• "Govt to consult on Disability Bill changes" - Various RTE news coverage of 19th February 2002.
• "Agencies force a U-turn on disability" By Senan Molony, Political Correspondent. Irish Independent, Wednesday 20th February 2002:
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• "Backdown on disability Bill" By Mark Hennessy, Political Reporter. Irish Times, Wednesday 20th February 2002:
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• "Disability Bill is Effectively Dead". Irish Times Leader Column, Wednesday 20th February 2002:
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• "Morning Ireland", RTE Radio 1, Wednesday 20th February 2002 (Real Audio Format Links):
  • Joe Little, Religion and Social Affairs Correspondent, reports from a meeting at the Mansion House of over 400 disabled people, relatives and carers to discuss a potential EU challenge to the Bill.
  • Jan O'Sullivan, Labour Party Equality Spokesperson, and Mary Wallace, Junior Minister with responsibility for the Bill, debate the issue.

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Barry McMullin